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New evidence of the geological origins of the ancient Delphic oracle (Greece)

    Nature (2001)Cite this article

    Ancient prophesies made at Delphi may have been inspired by natural gas.

    The Greeks and Romans took their prophesies from a woman who was high on the fumes of natural gas, say US geologists1. Geological surveys of the site of the Greek Temple of Apollo in Delphi reveal that the temple ruins lie over a fault cross that emits intoxicating vapours.

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    References

    1. De Boer, J. Z., Hale, J. R. & Chanton, J. New evidence of the geological origins of the ancient Delphic oracle (Greece). Geology 29, 707 - 710 (2001).

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    2. Piccardi, L. Active faulting at Delphi, Greece: seismotectonic remarks and a hypothesis for the geologic environment of a myth. Geology 28, 651 - 654 (2001).

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    New evidence of the geological origins of the ancient Delphic oracle (Greece). Nature (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/news010719-10

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/news010719-10

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